Non-rhizospheric Trichoderma- A Boon for Improving Nutrient uptake, Plant Growth and Yield in Tomato

Author: Ajith C.R., Pankaja N.S., Mahadeva J. and Umashankar Kumar N.

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Abstract

Fungal biocontrol agent, Trichoderma sp. found in many ecosystems, is known to grow as plant symbiont and promote plant growth and nutrition apart from biocontrol activity. We conducted a pot culture experiment to evaluate the efficacy of native Trichoderma isolates obtained from different locations and non-rhizospheric sources, previously identified effective in dual culture technique, in promoting nutrient use efficiency (NUE) in plants. Different application methods viz., seed treatment, soil application and their combination was amalysed with untreated check and commercial isolate was used as standard check. The combination treatment was significantly superior in soil nutrient release and uptake by plants compared to control, along with plant growth and yield. Among different isolates, SMV, PSV and GMV were identified as most effective, which significantly increased the uptake of N, P, K, Ca, Mg and S compared to commercial isolate. Studying the sole contribution of native non-rhizospheric isolates of Trichoderma was a challenging job and by our experiment it was clear that the native isolates of Trichoderma obtained from non-rhizosphere sources exhibit not only significant antagonistic activity but also improved plant NUE thereby increasing plant growth and yield. This can be an important contribution to organic farming, natural farming and sustainable agriculture.

Keywords

Native isolates, nutrient uptake, plant growth, tomato, Trichoderma spp

Conclusion

Application of 5 different non-rhizospheric native isolates in different treatments revealed T2, the combination treatment as the best which recorded significant increase nutrient uptake, growth parameters and yield parameters of tomato plant. Among different isolates, SMV and PSV were the best isolates which recorded increase in uptake of maximum number of nutrients. The isolates SMV and PSV increased the uptake of P, Ca, K, N, Mg, and S. The isolate PSV was the best isolate which promoted all studied growth parameters. The isolate SMV was the next effective isolate with respect to tomato growth promotion. While, the isolate GMV showed superiority with tomato fruit yield. Thus, apart from understanding that the application of Trichoderma spp. proved benefit for the plant, it is evident that Trichoderma isolates obtained from non-rhizospheric sources can perform better and therefore is an important aspect for future research.

References

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How to cite this article

Ajith C.R., Pankaja N.S., Mahadeva J. and Umashankar Kumar N. (2023). Non-rhizospheric Trichoderma- A Boon for Improving Nutrient uptake, Plant Growth and Yield in Tomato. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(7): 117-127.